⚡ Quick Hits
🥁 A Steve Gadd groove you can actually learn
Steve Gadd has a way of making even the simplest groove feel inevitable, and this short clip from Drumfluence captures exactly that quality. Watch how his pocket, dynamics, and feel lock together with an almost effortless authority that most drummers spend careers chasing. Fair warning: you will be nodding along before you realize it.
👩🎤 Watch Roni Kaspi sing AND chop
@Roni Kaspi
Roni Kaspi plays drums and sings her own music, and this short clip for "Tell Me" makes a strong case for why that combination works for her. Singing while playing drums is one of the hardest multitasking acts in music — your limbs are keeping independent time while your voice has to float over the top with its own phrasing and dynamics. Kaspi makes it look effortless, locking in behind the kit with a relaxed confidence that keeps the performance feeling personal rather than showy. The chops are serious, but they never compete with the song. A quick, charming watch that earns every one of its views.
🌊 Deep Dives
🥁 Why Steve Gadd is still shaping drummers at 81
@Yamaha Drums (Official)
Steve Gadd turned 81 yesterday, and few drummers have packed more musicality into a single bar of groove. Sweetwater's breakdown of four of his signature patterns is a worthy way to mark the occasion, tracing the pocket feel and subtle ghost note work that made him the most recorded drummer of his generation. Sit with this one slowly. WBGO published a tribute that nails what makes Gadd special: his early playing was dense — he treated every session like it might be his last and tried to fit everything in. But the studio changed him. Hearing playback without the visual energy of a live performance forced him to rethink. What felt exciting in the room sounded crowded on tape, so he started stripping things away. The result was a philosophy that shaped modern session drumming: play the minimum that sounds full. He's still very much active; Gadd toured with Blicher Hemmer Gadd earlier this year, has James Taylor dates on the books for 2026, and recently celebrated the re-release of his Hudson Music book *Up Close & In Session*, an updated version of the classic DCI videos that helped put video drum education on the map. His 2018 Grammy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album was notably the first Grammy awarded for one of his own projects — after decades of making everyone else sound better.
🎓 Practice & Skills
🔊 This simple tip will help you tune your toms right
Tuning by ear gets easier once you know what to listen for. Audio University's 90-second breakdown zeroes in on a simple diagnostic: tap near each lug and listen for a clean "woo" or "tuh" tone rather than a wavering "wa wa wa," where that wobble reveals how far apart your pitches are. Drums with fewer lugs, like smaller toms, respond faster to adjustments, making them a good starting point for building your tuning ear.
👻 Simon Phillips reveals why ghost notes are the secret glue of any groove
@Rick Beato
Simon Phillips stops by Rick Beato's Instagram to break down one of the most underrated elements in drumming: ghost notes. Phillips explains how those quiet, barely-there strokes between the main hits create the connective tissue that makes a groove feel locked in rather than mechanical. If your pocket has been feeling stiff, this short clip is worth a close listen.
🛒 Gear Picks
Drum overhead mic postion comparison
Just Add Drums runs through overhead mic positions in a tight 49-second comparison, showing how placement choices shape the overall sound of a kit recording. Whether you favor the spaced pair, XY, or Recorderman approach, the positioning of your overheads may matter more than the mics themselves. It is a quick, practical reference worth bookmarking before your next session.
🤫 This 13-piece mute kit cuts your kit's volume by 80%
Katouha's 13-piece drum mute kit covers toms, snare, cymbals, and bass drum with high-density foam pads designed to cut volume by roughly 80% while preserving enough rebound to keep technique honest. The set also includes a snare-wire dampener, two pairs of stick dampeners, and a pair of 5A sticks, making it a genuinely complete quiet-practice solution rather than just a handful of foam circles. At this price, it's a practical alternative for apartment players or anyone who'd rather not wait for an empty house to sit down and play.
Community Poll:
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That's it for today! Thank you for carving out time to read! This community means a lot to me, and I'm grateful you're here. 🙏
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Happy drumming,
Matteo